Exceptional Experiences
Columbia Hospitality

Our President and CEO, John Oppenheimer, launched Seattle-based Columbia Hospitality in 1995 after being selected by the Port of Seattle to manage the new Bell Harbor International Conference Center on Seattle’s waterfront. 

Prior to serving as a consultant to the Port of Seattle on the new conference center project, John was founder and owner of CRG Events, one of the largest event planning companies on the West Coast. Before launching Columbia, John had spent several valuable years analyzing and evaluating hotel and event center operations, continually seeking new ways to improve financial performance and overall guest satisfaction.

When awarded the contract for Bell Harbor, Columbia had no employees and no assets – just a leader with a clear vision and a strong passion for exceptional service and quality. Beating out large, established corporate hospitality companies for the opportunity to manage Bell Harbor was just the beginning. 

Columbia Hospitality employs nearly 1,000 people throughout the Pacific Northwest to serve the needs of our upscale, award-winning hospitality venues.

Since its inception in 1995, the company has steadily grown its portfolio – consistently delivering exceptional experiences to its guests and employees, and financial results for each unique property.

Columbia has a proven track record in all aspects of hospitality management including opening branding and repositioning, sales and marketing, revenue management, rooms management, conference services, human resources, food and beverage operations, restaurant operations and concepting, accounting, property maintenance, IT management and renovation.

In addition, Columbia supports a highly sought after consulting division which has provided market assessments, pre-opening sales and marketing, pre-opening programming, and pro forma development for more than 80 hospitality projects in the United States and Canada.

Over the past six years Columbia has regularly been named as one of the Puget Sound Business Journal's Fastest Growing Private Companies in Washington State.